Period 4 Vocabulary Review

A comprehensive review of key historical vocabulary terms and their significance.

self-determination

The belief that every people should have the right to determine their own political destiny.

Central Powers

The alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire during WW1.

Triple Entente

The pre-WW1 alliance of England, France, and Russia.

Schlieffen Plan

Germany's plan to rapidly defeat France and then attack Russia at the beginning of WW1.

trench warfare

A form of warfare in which opposing armies fight from trenches dug into the battlefield.

Armenian Genocide

A campaign of extermination undertaken by the Ottomans against 2 million Armenians during WW1.

Balfour Declaration

A British declaration from 1917 that supported the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

Vladimir Lenin

Leader of the Bolshevik party who returned to Russia from exile in Switzerland in 1917.

Fourteen Points

The plan proposed by Woodrow Wilson to establish long-lasting peace at the end of WW1.

Ataturk

Mustafa Kemal, the first president of the Republic of Turkey and a key reformer after WW1.

League of Nations

The forerunner of the United Nations, aimed at improving global welfare and settling disputes.

mandate system

System developed after WW1 where former colonies became mandates under European control.

Great Depression

An international economic crisis following WW1 that began with the stock market collapse in 1929.

New Deal

Franklin Roosevelt's response to the Great Depression involving public projects to reduce unemployment.

New Economic Policy

Plan implemented by Lenin that called for minor free-market reforms.

Joseph Stalin

Dictator of the Soviet Union from 1928-1953, who led with an iron fist.

fascism

A political ideology that sought to regenerate societies in contrast to liberal democracy and socialism.

Benito Mussolini

Italian fascist leader who created the first fascist government based on aggressive policies.

Adolf Hitler

Leader of the Nazi Party, became dictator of Germany in 1933, leading Europe into WW2.

anti-semitism

Prejudice against Jews, significantly contributing to the Holocaust.

Indian National Congress

Political party founded in 1885 to demand greater Indian participation in government.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Leader of the Muslim League who became the first president of Pakistan.

Sun Yat Sen

Head of the revolutionary alliance that led the 1911 revolt against the Qing in China.

May Fourth Movement

A Chinese movement beginning May 4, 1919 with a desire to eliminate imperialist influences.

Mao Zedong

Leader of the Chinese Communist Party who founded the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Chiang Kai-Shek

Military officer who succeeded Sun Yat-Sen as leader of the Nationalist party in China.

Long March

A 6,000-mile trek of Chinese Communists to relocate their base during the revolution.

Jomo Kenyatta

Leader of the nonviolent nationalist movement in Kenya.

Pan-Africanism

Movement to unify all African peoples and the African diaspora.

Fidel Castro

Cuban revolutionary who overthrew Batista, establishing a Communist state.

dollar diplomacy

The U.S. effort to further aims in Latin America through economic power.

United Fruit Company

American fruit company symbolizing American imperialism in Central America.

Axis powers

The alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan in WW2.

Allied powers

The alliance of Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States against the Axis.

rape of Nanjing

Japanese conquest and destruction of Nanjing, resulting in massive civilian casualties.

Munich conference

1938 meeting where powers agreed to allow German expansion in Czechoslovakia.

Dresden bombings

1945 British firebombing resulting in massive casualties in the city of Dresden.

Hiroshima

City in Japan destroyed by the first atomic bomb, hastening the end of WW2.

final solution

Nazi plan for the mass murder of Europe’s Jews.

Marshall Plan

U.S. initiative to provide financial aid to European nations post-WW2.

United Nations

Successor to the League of Nations aimed at maintaining international peace.

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military alliance formed in 1949.

Warsaw Pact

Military alliance formed by Soviet bloc nations in response to NATO.

nonaligned movement

Movement for former colonial states to assert independence from both superpowers.

Gamal Abdel Nasser

Egyptian colonel who nationalized the Suez Canal and brought conflict with Western powers.

pan-arabism

Movement advocating for the unification of Arab peoples and nations.

perestroika

Gorbachev's effort to restructure the Soviet state, leading to significant tensions.

Great Leap Forward

A Chinese Communist Party initiative for rapid industrialization and collectivization.

Green Revolution

Agricultural innovations that dramatically increased food production in the mid-20th century.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

A global roadmap for freedom and equality, stating that human rights are universal.